Monday, January 6, 2014

We’ve just bought a little house. Our first. The bungalow we’ve been renting for the past five years will be someone else’s come March. That all still seems fictional right now. We’re only moving two blocks away, two blocks closer to the park, closer to Desmond, and closer to Felix. So it’s a good two blocks, a happy two. We will still walk to school and keep the same phone number.

This is at once exciting and somewhat bittersweet. I will miss this short, dead end street and the neighbors that are part of our every day. I will miss the deep front porch and the lemon trees, and the place on the wall where we've marked Bob's growth since he was three.

Bob is excited and nervous. This is the only house he can remember living in. He is most concerned with the logistics of moving the goldfish but he’ll get to find space in his new room for his Legos and Minecraft toys. In the new backyard there is a tree with the possibility of a future tree house.

January will be about packing and cleaning out and obsessively gathering boxes.

The new place has blue shutters and a big old stove, and just enough room for two adults a boy a dog and a fish. Soon, it will stop being "the new place" and just become "home."

Congrats and I do remember, how sad I felt when we left our first rental. That was the house that Alec was brought home to, that was the house that I carried Xavier in my belly, and that was the house where we became a family. There were echoes of first steps and hearing Alec's voice for the first time with 'mama.' Oh, well, I came to make you feel better and excited and it's wonderful news. But all the memories. I remember driving away and just feeling overwhelmed with how much life we had packed into that two bedroom flat. Congrats, Lisa. I can't wait to hear about a treehouse. I can't.

Congratulations. And I so understand the bittersweet aspects of moving. I still miss our old house, the one I brought all my babies home to. But once you burn your first batch of cookies in the new oven, it will be home.

Congrats! We bought our first home 5 years ago after years of renting. Even though I know it's not our "dream home" and we most likely won't be able to live here forever, it's amazing how attached I am to that little house. Enjoy making wonderful new memories.